Venetian shade



Julyyzl, 1953 P. A. KEARNY 2,646,114

VENETIAN SHADE Filed Aug. 3, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Philip A. Keamy mmvroza.

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July 21, 1953 P, KEARNY 2,646,114

VENETIAN SHADE Filed Aug. 5, 1951 2 SheetsSheet 2 'a- 4 I Fi .5

Philip A. Kea rny INVENTOR.

Patented July 21, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT QFFICE VENETIAN SHADE Philip A. Kearny, Baton Rouge, La.

Application August 3, 1951, Serial No. 240,237

Claims. (01. 160-89) This invention comprises novel and useful improvements in a Venetian shade and more specifically pertains to a combination window shade and Venetian blind whereby the advantages of each assembly may be selectively employed either alternately or proportionately and simultaneously in order to more efficiently control a window opening.

The primary object of this invention is to provide a window covering construction which shall combine and incorporate therein the known advantages of a window shade of the spring roller type together with a Venetian blind construction.

A further more specific object of the invention is to provide a Venetian shade construction in V conformity with the preceding object in which a single supporting means shall be provided for mounting the entire assembly to permit raising and lowering of the same to lessen the number set forth hereinbefore having upper and lower sections, one of which shall comprise a conventional window shade assembly of the spring roller type, while the other shall provide an improved construction of Venetian blind assembly.

A still further important specific object of the invention is to provide a device 'in conformity with the preceding'object in which the Venetian blind assembly shall be greatly reduced in weight, in which the number of parts of the same shall be greatly lessened, and wherein the individual slats may be mounted in an improved manner upon the supporting tapes to permit easy removal of the same for cleansing, servicing or replacement as desired.

trated, by way of example only, in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a front elevational view of a preferred embodiment of window covering construc-- tion in accordance with this invention, the same being shown in its lowered position with the window opening covered by the window shade at the top half and the Venetian blind assembly at the bottom half thereof;

Figure 2 is a vertical transverse sectional view taken substantially upon the plane indicated by the section line 22 upon Figure 1, parts being broken away and the view being taken upon an enlarged scale;

Figure 3 is a perspective view of one of the improved slats forming a part of the Venetian blind assembly of the device;

Figure 4 is an elevational View of the invention of Figure 1 upon a reduced scale and showing the window shade portion and the Venetian blind portion of the device simultaneously in use;

Figure 5 is an elevational view of the arrange of the window opening; r

come apparent as the following description proceeds, are attained by the present invention, preferred embodiments of which have bflen illus- Figure 6 is a view similar to Figures 1 and 4 but showing the Venetian assembly in its fully collapsed position and the window shade rolled down to fully cover the window opening;

Figure 7 is an elevational view of a reversed arrangement of the Venetian blind assembly and the window shade assembly in which the former covers the top half of the window opening and a window shade assembly covers the lower half of the same;

Figure 8 is a fragmentary perspective view of the middle portion of the arrangement of Figure 7 showing the bottom portion of the Venetian blind assembly and the manner in which the window shade is mounted thereon by means of a spring roller; and

Figure 9 is a vertical transverse sectional de-' tail view taken upon an enlarged scale substan tially upon the plane indicated by the section line 9-9 of Figure 6 and showing the manner in which the Venetian blind assembly is col-' lapsed and secured in'collapsed position.

Referring now more specifically to the accompanying drawings, wherein like numerals designate similar parts throughout the various views, attention is directed first to Figures 1-6 and 9 wherein the improved Venetian shade assembly for covering a window opening is shown as consisting of. a window shade assembly indicated.

generally by the numeral and a Venetian blind assembly indicated generally by the numeral l2, these two assemblies being secured to each other upon a common horizontal edge as shown in the embodiment of Figures 1-6 and also as shown in the modified construction of Figures '7 and 8.

In the first and preferred arrangement, the window shade assembly it! constitutes the upper portion of the Venetian shade construction, while the Venetian blind assembly constitutes the lower portion thereof. The upper portion consists of a sheet of pliable material 14 which may of any of the conventional and usual materials employed for window shades, this material being wound upon a conventional form of spring roller l5 by means of which the shade may be resiliently rolled upwardly about the roller for raising the same. Since the window shade element is of a conventional and known design, a further de tailed explanation of the same appears to be unnecessary. It will be understood that in the arrangement of Figures 1-6 that the roller is mounted upon the window frame or above the upper edge of the window opening in any of the conventional and usual manners whereby the shade will depend from the roller to selectively cover predetermined portions of the window opening as desired.

As shown more clearly in Figures 1 and 2, the

lower portion of the window shade i4 is provided with cylindrical portions l8 which depend therefrom and constitute bearings for oscillatively supporting a rod which constitutes the upper or tilting rail of the Venetian blind assembly.

Fixedly secured by their upper ends to the tilting rail 21? are pairs of Venetian blind tapes 22 which may be of any conventional design, and which tapes are connected together in pairs by horizontally disposed webs 24 in accordance with conventional practice for supporting upon the webs and between the tapes a set of Venetian blind slats 25. These slats may be of any suitable material such as thin metal, a suitable plastic, or even cardboard or the like, and are of an imperforate nature, and preferably of a very lightweight construction.

It should be here noted that in view of the specific and improved Venetian blind assembly construction to be set forth hereinafter, that the slats and tapes may be relatively narrower and lighter than conventional Venetian blind slats and tapes, thereby lessening the weight applied to the window shade portion of the assembly and improving the operation of the complete device.

The slats are removably secured between the pairs of tapes by means of notches 28 upon the side edges of the slats, which notches are adapted to receive the tapes 22 therein.

The lowermost slat of the assembly has the bottom ends of the tapes fixedly secured thereto, and is further provided with a pull ring 39 whereby the entire assembly may be lowered from the supporting roller [6 thereof.

As so described, and by reference to Figures 1 and 2, it will be readily apparent that the slats of the Venetian blind assembly may be readily tilted in accordance with conventional practice by means of a tilting rail 20 regardless of the position of adjustment of the entire assembly with relation to the supporting spring roller Hi.

It will be further apparent that the device may be raised until the window shade I4 is completely wound upon the spring roller I 6, leaving the slat assembly at the upper portion of the W n QW as shown in Figure 5; or the device may be lowered until the window opening is covered at the lower half by the Venetian blind assembly and at the upper half by the window shade assembly as shown in Figure l; or finally, the device may be lowered until the window is entirely covered by the window shade H5 as in Figure 6, with the slat assembly being completely collapsed as shown at the bottom part of that figure.

It should be here noted that when desired, the slat assembly may be completely collapsed and secured and retained in this collapsed position in the manner shown in Figures 1, 6 and 9. For this purpose, there is provided a fastening tape 32 fixedly secured to the tilting rail as by one end, whereby when the slats are collapsed this tape may be wound about the collapsed slat assembly as shown in Figure 9 and have its lower end connected by a snap fastener or the like to a suitable conventional fastening button on the tilting rail as suggested in Figure 9.

t is also possible to completely remove the slats from the tapes whereby the window shade itself is free to function in a normal manner. This arrangem nt thus permits easy removing of the individual slats since the same are retained solely by the engagement of the tapes 22 in the notched edges 23 of the slats, and since there are no lift cords disposed through apertures in the slats in the usual manner. The above construction also greatly lightens the weight of the entire device since the weight of the pull cords, their supporting pulleys and fasteners are omitted; the usual tilting cords and pulleys are omitted; and since it is not necessary to aperture the slats to receive the lift cords, the same may be made relatively narrow and of lighter construction than would otherwise be necessary.

As above stated, the arrangement of the Venetian blind assembly and the window shade assembly may be reversedfrom that previously described, with the Venetian blind assembly l2 disposed at the upper part of the device, and the window shade assembly 56 disposed at the bottom thereof, as shown in Figures 7 and 8. In this arrangement, the slat assembly will be of the same construction as set forth hereinbefore, except that the tilting rail 29 of the slat assembly will be supported in suitable mounting brackets .above the window opening, and since the prinparticularly in Figure 8, the lowermost slat 25 is provided with a depending bracket 36 at each end of the same, and the usual window shade spring roller l6 above described is detachably mounted in these brackets. The window shade is in this arrangement is thus mounted upon the lowermost slat and is adjustable thereon in the usual manner, while the entire assembly will be positioned so that the upper half of the Window is controlled by the Venetian blind assembly as shown in Figure '7, while the window shade may be raised to control the lower half of the same. Gf course, in this arrangement, the slats may be tilted by rotating the tilting rail 20 in accordance with the usual practice.

From the foregoing, the construction and operation of the device will be readily understood and further explanation is believed to be unnecessary. However, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the 7 Window shade and a Venetian blind assembly,

said window shade including a reinforcing sleeve at its free end and 'a stiffening bar disposed in said sleeve, said sleeve being slotted at spaced points along its length to expose portions of said stiffening bar, pairs of vertically disposed tapes secured to the exposed portions of said stiffening bar and a set of elongated slats mounted in said I tapes, said stiffening bar constituting a tilt rail for said slats, said Venetian blind assembly consisting of said stilfening bar, slats and tapes.

2. In a combination Window shade and Vene- I tian blind assembly wherein the shade has a reinforcing sleeve at its free end and a stiffening bar disposed in said sleeve, the improvement com} prising said sleeve being slotted at spaced points throughout its length to expose portions of said stiffening bar, Venetian blind tapes secured to the exposed portions of said stiffening bar and depending therefrom, slats mounted in said tapes, said stiffening bar being loosely disposed in said sleeve and constituting a tilt rail for said slats.

3. The combination of claim 1 and a strap secured at one end to said stiffening bar adapted to embrace said slats and hold the same in collapsed position, cooperating means on said stiffening bar and the other end of said strap for fastening the other end of said strap to said stiffening bar.

4. The combination of claim 2 and a strap se cured at one end to said stiffening bar adapted to embrace said slats and hold the same in collapsed position, cooperating means on said stiffening bar and the other end of said strap for fastening the other end of said strap to said stiffening bar 5. In combination, a solid, flexible window shade and a Venetian blind assembly depending therefrom, said shade having a reinforcing sleeve at its free end and'a stiifening bar disposed in said sleeve, said sleeve being slotted at spaced points along its length to expose portions of said stiffening bar, said Venetian blind assembly being suspended from said stiffening bar and fastened thereto at the exposed portions thereof,

said stiffening bar constituting a tilt rail for said Venetian blind assembly.

PHILIP A. KEARNY.

References Cited in the file of this patent Great Britain Nov. 13, 1886 

